Apparatus for treating alimentary pastes.



P. BARDUCCI.

APPARATUS FOR TREATING ALIMENTARY PASTES.

APPLICATION FILED MAR. 3.1913- Patented July 3, 1917.

PILADE BARIDUCCI, OF NAPLES, ITALY.

APIEARATUS FOR, TREATING ALIMENTARY PASTES.

Application filed March 3, 1913.

To (1M whom it w'iay concern:

Reit known that I, Pu /um Bamrocor, a subject of the King of Italy,- and residing at 16' V ialeElena, Naples, Italy, have invented certain new and useful I1nprovements in Apparatus for Treating Alimentary Pastes, of which the following is a specification.

The present invention has for its object to provide means for effecting artificially the exsiccation of alimentary pastry in accordance with the Neapolitan process.

In the Neapolitan process of exsiccation which more particularly used in the manufacture of long pastry, such as macaroni and the like, the paste is alternately submitted to hardeningand rcsoftening processes. The hardening process consists in submitting the paste to arapid exsiccation, whereby a thin crust is formed on it which renders it extremely friable, and it is caused to bend, while in the resoftening process the paste which has first been submitted to the hardening process, is laid out in cool, moist rooms, where thesaid crust which has been formed on it during the hardening process, absorbs themoisture still left in the paste, and is thus again rendered soft and pliable, so that the paste strings are stretched out again through their proper weight and acquire a certain elastic consistency.

In carrying the said Neapolitan process into effect, the paste which is hung over sticks or rods, preferably of cane, is alternately broughtout into the open air and eX- posed to the sun, and transported into cool, moist rooms, such as caverns and cellars, and vice versa.

The present invention has for its object to providea cell or compartment, into and out of which the paste may be transported by mechanical means, while remaining on the sticks or rods, and in which the same is alternately submitted to hardening and resoftening processes without being removed, until it has been completely dried.

The invention is illustrated in the annexed drawings, in which- Figure 1 is a longitudinal section of a cell constructed in accordance with the present invention.

Fig. 2 is a longitudinal section of the improved cell shown in combination with the truck for handling the paste.

Fig. 3 is a cross section of the cell or compartment on the line A-B of Fig. 1.

Specification of Letters Patent.

' Patented July a, ram.

Serial No. 751,952.

The numeral 1 indicates a cell or compartment preferably of rectangular shape and constructed of any desired material, its inside walls being made of or lined with watertight material.

Along the longitudinal walls inside each cell and at suitable distances apart are arranged small brackets 2 which carry the longitudinal bearers 3-- adapted to support the sticks or rods on which the paste is hung, said bearers being arranged at a suitable distance from the walls.

The cell or compartment .1 has a front opening lthrough which the truck *5- may enter. This is adapted to run on rails 2S which extend into the cell, and it carries a tower 7 consisting of several pairs of arms -8, 9-, 10-, which support the rods or sticks 11- on which the strings of paste -12are hung. The tower 7 may be raised and lowered by any suitable means and as shown this means comprises a hand-wheel l3- which,

rotates a screw 14 which rocks a lever -l5-. The lever 15 engages supports 16 on which the tower is mounted and when the screw 1$ is rotated in one direction these supports will be elevated. The intermediate arms 9- may be moved in longitudinal direction by means of any suitable device, for instance by a lever -17, for the purpose of interchanging the strings of paste of the various rows, by bringing the intermediate pairs of arms into the position shown in the drawing. This displacement is essential when the truck is loaded automatically.

The truck loaded with sticks or rods carrying the strings of paste, may from any place of the works be brought before the inlet opening of the cell by means of a wheeled :lt'rame or bogie (not shown in the draw ing) carrying a transverse track part corresponding to the track 28- in the cell and running on a second track arranged at right angles with the track -2S-. The truck enters the cell with its tower raised, and the intermediate pairs of arms are brought into the position shown in the drawing. By actuating the hand-wheel -13-, the tower will be lowered, and as the distance between the various rows of the longitudinal bearers -3 inside the cell and also the number of these rows correspond to the various pairs of arms of the said tower, all the sticks or rods --11 with of the air in the cell, through stirring the 'air by mechanlcal 'means and through a gradual and also continuous renewal of air. The heating may be effected by means of any conveniently arranged thermic device,

and preferably by means of a circulating steam radiator 19 arranged in proximity to the pcvement and along the longitudinal walls of the cell.

The air is stirred by means of one or more rotary air agitators -20 preferably actuated by an elcctromotor, and each of them suspended from a trolley -21 running along a horizontal beam 22 arranged on the ceiling of the cell.

These fans are mounted freely in the chamber and rotate around a vertical axis, so'that each fan generates a direct air cur rent and simultaneously a return current in opposite direction,

' During the operation of these fans they are reciprocated' from end to endin the cell so that the air currents generated by the fans move continuously to and fro within the cell.

Air is admitted to the cell through the ventilating towers 2 f or through ports 29 closed by means of damper 30. The air passes out of the cell through perforations in the floor thereof in communication with a channel 23. The fresh air enters the cell in the same quantity, as air is withdrawn, through the ventilating tower 24 or through holes 29' provided in the upper part of the cell and having dampers adapted to be opened in consequence of the action of the suction devices.

The resoftening phases are obtained by interrupting the heating and the ventilation and by causing a continuous flow of water down the longitudinal walls of the cell, which, as has been said, are made of or lined with water-tight material. The water is supplied by means of tubes 25 or the like, arranged along the top of the walls and falls into channels 27 through which it is then brought out of the cell.

It will be easily understood that by operating the truck 5 in the inverse way to that above described, the dried paste may be removed from the cells. If the arrangement of the works admits it, the cell may have a back door -18, in which case the paste is brought into the cell from one side and is removed on the other side forthe purpose of preventing that the two operations interfere with each other.

What I claim is:

1. In a housingfor exsicoatinglong alimentary pastes, the combination with means for hanging the paste, of means for introducing air and means for discharging the air, means for simultaneously gen erating downward and upward air currents, these means moving continuously to and fro within the cell.

2. A housing for exsiccatinglong alimentary pastes, comprisingmeans for hanging the paste within said housing, and means for simultaneously generating air currents upwardly and downwardly within said housing, and said air currents being more intense inone direction and less .intense in the opposite direction, and means for continuously moving said air currents within said housing and eachmaintaining' a constant direction.

3. Housing for eXsiccating long alimens tary pastes, comprising, in combination, means forhanging the paste, means for introducing air, means for discharging the air, an'air agitator rotatable about a vertical axis and mounted freely within the housing, and means for moving the air agitator to and fro within the housing.

In testimony whereof I have signed my name, in the presence of twosubscribing witnesses, the 20th day of February, 1913.

, PILADE BARDUGOI.

Gopies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressing the Comm ssioner of Patents,

Washington, D. G. 

